When they realized how much the vast parking lot they inherited when moving to their Pipestone Road headquarters impacted the nearby Ox Creek Watershed, the professionals at Wightman took matters literally into their own hands to carve out a more environmentally friendly Rain Garden, and now they’ve won a major award for that project.
Wightman has received a Michigan Award for that Rain Garden beautification project from Keep Michigan Beautiful, Inc. (KMB) at their annual Awards Banquet held last week on October 18th in Lansing at the Crowne Plaza West.
Founded in 1946, Wightman is a Benton Harbor-based architecture, engineering, environmental and surveying services company. Realizing the impact on Ox Creek, the Wightman team selected a section of their asphalt parking lot at 2303 Pipestone Road, removed parking spaces, and replaced them with a rain garden. The rain garden collects and filters pollutants from stormwater run-off before the water enters the Ox Creek watershed.
Wightman Landscape Architect Ben Baker says, “By reducing the quantity of stormwater run-off from the site, the garden offers a substantial positive environmental impact. The 3,750 square foot garden features plants and trees native to Michigan, providing a welcome respite amid an asphalt jungle shared between one office and two manufacturing facilities.”
The Wightman rain garden was originally designed three years ago in 2016 as part of a larger environmental effort to improve the water quality of Ox Creek. According to the Southwest Michigan Planning Commission, Ox Creek is the last tributary to enter the Paw Paw River and is one of the most polluted, owing to the manufacturing facilities, shopping mall, large box stores, and farm operations that encompass it. Polluted stormwater run-off, often carrying dangerous chemicals, travels into the creek, leaving erosion in its wake. Those factors cause the environment to suffer.
Planted in the fall of 2017, 18 parking lot spaces were eliminated, and dirt was excavated from the site. New soil and rocks were added to the garden, and a community planting day was held where more than 750 plants were installed. The garden will soon mark its two-year anniversary.
Installing the rain garden was truly a community event that included community volunteers, dignitaries, side by side with Wightman employees performing the planting work. The trees are growing, the native garden plants are thriving and water entering Ox Creek is cleaner as a result.
Keep Michigan Beautiful, Inc. is a non-profit organization established in 1962 by Governor John Swainson as a litter prevention committee. In 1965, following the White House Conference on Beautification, hosted by Ladybird Johnson, a Governor’s conference was held in Lansing. At that conference Governor George Romney declared that Keep Michigan Beautiful, Inc. would be the official state organization to combat litter and to promote beautification. Their objective is to identify, recognize and honor programs or projects that involve beautification, litter prevention and control, recycling of waste materials, clean¬up, site restoration and historical preservation.
Wightman is a full-service consulting firm staffed by a dynamic team of more than 130 professionals who work to analyze, advise, design, and deliver successful projects in partnership with governments, business, and institutions in Southwest Michigan. Services offered include Architecture, Civil Engineering, Environmental, and Surveying. Additional specialty services offered include Planning, GIS, Landscape Architecture and Interior Design. The firm is headquartered in Benton Harbor with additional offices in Allegan and Kalamazoo.
Shown in the photo accompanying this story on Moody on the Market are Wightman team members Laura Fredrickson, Ben Baker and Matt Davis accepting the Michigan Award for the Benton Harbor Rain Garden.
